Kimmie Meissiner definitely works for 2006, and she could win the gold. She has all the jumps, the fresh look, and most of all she has the very strong desire.

ITA, Jesilly - If she qualifies for the 2006 Olys, it would not be a surprise if she wins it over all the 20 year olds faltering on their 3x3s and nerves. Also I think 8 triples will knock out a quad on points. BTW, she has excellent presentation. Very much with the joy of skating style.

Kimmie is a terrific skater, and I think she has a great future, but let's not rush to anoint her the next lady OGM winner.

She will not even be able to skate in a senior International until the fall of 2005, and those competitions will be limited to GP events or "B" Internationals. Historically, all of the lady OGM winners had stood on the World podium prior to their Olympic win.

Many of her triple jumps are underrotated by 1/4 or more. This is not unusual for a Junior skater, so in Junior competitions, it doesn't hurt her chances. Competing against Seniors under CoP is another thing entirely.

At 14, Kimmie is just 5' tall and tiny, and the puberty monster has yet to strike.

An 8-triple program in a summer competition is terrific, but it's still in a minor event where she was expected to do well against limited competition. The season hasn't even started yet!

Kimmie is a terrific skater, and I think she has a great future, but let's not rush to anoint her the next lady OGM winner.
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An 8-triple program in a summer competition is terrific, but it's still in a minor event where she was expected to do well against limited competition. The season hasn't even started yet!

IMO, a major club competition such as Liberty is a real, pressure-packed competition setting, regardless of the depth of the field. Kimmie Meissner and Louann Donovan were out to "prove" themselves to the panel of National and World judges and both came through admirably. For them, this was the start of their season, and I feel privileged to have been there to witness such a high level of skating! An aside: I was nearly deafened by the people around me in the stands that were screaming out Kimmie's name before her free skate. Talk about pressure! The audience (of mostly fellow skaters and parents, with a smattering of fans) was incredibly loud and supportive of the skaters.

I do agree wholeheartedly with your first sentence (quoted above), though.

Progression of the sport

There seems to be an attitude floating around that figure skaters must be able to do more rotations for the sport to "progress". I'm hoping other posters will explore that concept...

In other sports, do they do more of whatever it is they do for the sport to "progress"? I don't know a whole lot about other sports except for equestrian sports. In equestrian sports, great advances in equine medicine and training and equipment have been made, but the horses don't run faster, jump higher or have longer careers than horses from decades ago. The riders hang in there, despite major injuries (anyone ever hear of Bruce Davidson?). Can't say how this compares to riders of yesteryears.

In football, do they make more touchdowns than 20 years ago? In track, I think they run faster, don't they? Were Lance's times faster on his 5th Toure de France win than on his first (and, as I write this, I'm crossing my fingers that he wins his 6th...). What about gymnastics - which has some parallels to skating in that it is both an art and a sport with subjective judging: are the athletes doing more of whatever they do to advance their sport?

Kimmie Meissiner definitely works for 2006, and she could win the gold. She has all the jumps, the fresh look, and most of all she has the very strong desire.

I would be very surprised if Kimmie walked away from 2006 with gold. I could see her making them team easily. By the looks of things now Kwan and Cohen are secured for their places. It will be up to Kirk, McDonough, Nikodinov, and potentially Corwin to try to keep someone like Louann, Kimmie, or Katy stealing the third spot. This year they are lucky because Kimmie nor Katy can attend Senior Worlds. But for 2006, if any new generation skater makes it I do think it will be Kimmie. I don't think the USFSA will have a problem sending her given judges do seem to like her internationally based on her history. But I don't think judges would give Kimmie a gold medal. If skaters left the door open she could potentially steal a bronze or even silver, but the older skaters would all have to screw it up majorly for her to take gold. But good luck to Kimmie, I think she's got an exciting future if she doesn't get injured.

DizzyDi: "Another huge threat doesn't come from the U.S. but from the Japanese ladies. The Olympic gold may very well go to one of those tiny, young dynamos!"

Which Japanese ladies? Mai Asada and Aki Sawada will be 17 in 2006. Mai is already nearly 5'4" tall, and Aki Sawada is 5'2", about the size of Michelle Kwan. Neither of them is tiny. Then there is Mao Asada, but I'm not sure she will be old enough to skate at Torino.

Kimmie is a terrific skater, and I think she has a great future, but let's not rush to anoint her the next lady OGM winner.

did we rush too much with Lipinski?

Many of her triple jumps are underrotated by 1/4 or more.

Isn't that what many said about Sarah Hughes who won the Olys!!
Her triples looked fine to me. IMO, only a skater who poses a threat has underrotated jumps.

An 8-triple program in a summer competition is terrific, but it's still in a minor event where she was expected to do well against limited competition. The season hasn't even started yet!

But a quad in practice is essentially a solid accomplishment?

For me the whole thing is information with the good news and let's see that quad, lets see those 8 triples. Let's see how everyone skates. But the news is always interesting, Anyone know anything about Ms Mysterious? (other than opinions, which we all know by heart).

Asada is a scary little girl. Who the hell in the world can do so many jumps at such a young age is beyond me? She doesn't even look strong enough to be a juvenile girl.

I remember when Midori landed her triple axel and Scott said that we will never see another jumper like Midori in 50 years. Well I guess 50 years is not as long as it use to be.

Somewhat true....however...There is still yet to be a skater to possess the jumping ability of Midori Ito IMO...yeah this 3/3 this is huge...but no great jumpers who consistently could land a 3axel..

Nakano & Neledina were able to land them but they were smaller and sometimes iffy but yes they were clean, but they were not consistent..

Midori Ito between 1989-1992 landed so many triple axels it was an automatic jump until the 1992 olympics. I mean the girl could flat out jump...she has at one time or another in her career landed many varieties of 3/3's....3lutz/3toe, 3flip/3toe, 3loop/3toe, 3toe/3toe, 3loop/3loop...simply amazing....she could land these jumps at will....heck Scott Hamilton had reported that during the 1992 olympic practices she was landed 3axel/3toes!!!!

Here it is 15 years later since 1989...and no one in my book has matched her jumping ability. Trophy Lalique 1991 had to be one of the most brilliant technical performances ever....

Mao Asada.....jumps are cleary not fully rotated....There is no telling where she is going...

her 3lutz/3loop/3toe combination...each and every jump did not fully rotate